Ivan Stepanovich
Konev
1897-1973
Ivan Stepanovich Konev was a Soviet military commander and statesman. A prominent military leader of the Great Patriotic War, Marshal of the Soviet Union (February 20, 1944), twice Hero of the Soviet Union (1944, 1945), recipient of the Order of “Victory”, Hero of the Czechoslovak Socialist Republic (1970), and Hero of the Mongolian People’s Republic (1971). He was born on December 28, 1897. He was a Russian of peasant origin. Ivan Konev served as an artillery non-commissioned officer (Feuerwerker) in World War I. He joined the Red Army in 1918 and fought against the forces of Kolchak, Ataman Semyonov, and Japanese interventionists during the Civil War, rising to the position of army chief of staff. He became a member of the All-Union Communist Party (Bolsheviks) in 1918. After the war, he held various command positions. From 1937 to 1938, he commanded a special military group deployed to Mongolia to protect its borders from Japanese attack. From 1940 to 1941, he served as commander of the Transbaikal and North Caucasus Military Districts. He was a graduate of Military Academy named after M.V. Frunze in 1934. He spoke English. During the Great Patriotic War, Konev commanded the 19th Army and led several fronts: the Western Front (September 12 – October 12, 1941), the Kalinin Front (October 19, 1941 – August 26, 1942), the Northwestern Front (March 14 – June 22, 1943), the Steppe Front (July 9 – October 30, 1943), and the 2nd Ukrainian Front (October 20, 1943 – May 21, 1944). In the final stage of the war, he commanded the 1st Ukrainian Front (May 24, 1944 – June 10, 1945), which participated in the Silesian and Berlin Offensives and played a key role in the liberation of Prague. After the war, Konev served as Commander-in-Chief of the Central Group of Forces. From 1946 to 1948, he was Commander-in-Chief of the Ground Forces and First Deputy Minister of Defence. In 1950, he became Chief Inspector of the Soviet Army and Deputy Minister of Defence. In 1951, he commanded the Carpathian Military District. From 1955 to 1960, he served as Commander-in-Chief of the Unified Armed Forces of the Warsaw Pact States and First Deputy Minister of Defence of the USSR. From 1960 to 1961, he was Commander-in-Chief of the Group of Soviet Forces in Germany.
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